


Human Nature

by ShenanigansEnsue



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, Immortality, M/M, Minimal editing, Philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 12:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShenanigansEnsue/pseuds/ShenanigansEnsue
Summary: Heaven and Hell are getting antsy.  Aziraphale and Crowley go to Tadfield to lay low only to meet once more with a now grown Adam Young, aka The Anti-Christ.(Basically an excuse for me to wax philosophical about the nature of death and humanity)\Based on Anon Request:  may I request Crowley and Aziraphael talking to Adam after things have cooled off? It's your call if you wanna make the conversation Meaningful or just random banter. I'm very excited to see what you'll write anyway tbh





	Human Nature

Aziraphale and Crowley hadn’t intended to go back to Tadfield. 

After the apocalypse that never was, it seemed wrong to do so. Adam was human after all and it seemed best to leave the humans alone to do their own human things. However, things were starting to happen. 

Hastur had come to the cottage. He hadn’t done anything besides make thinly veiled threats, but it was enough. Hell was getting antsy and chances were Heaven was too. Both Aziraphale and Crowley knew they wouldn’t be able to handle both their head offices on their own if it came right down to it. They needed to sit down and work it out, someplace neither Heaven and Hell would dare poke their head around. Tadfield was as good a place as any.

To no one’s surprise the village itself hadn’t changed much. All the cottages were in exactly the same place. The lawns were kept and the trees were the perfect shade of orange you would expect in fall weather. 

Crowley pulled the Bently into the cottage driveway.

“He still has his powers then,” he said, getting out of the car.

“It would appear so,” agreed the angel. “But, it’s different.”

“How so?”

Aziraphale paused a moment. “The love is still there,” he said slowly. “But, it’s different. It’s not this buzzy happy love, it’s more…content.”

“Content?”

“Yes,” he said with slightly more confidence. “Content.”

Crowley raised an eyebrow, still not fully getting it, but knowing there was nothing more he could say.

They both turned towards the cottage before a voice caught their attention.

“Hello again.”

The angel and demon turned to see a young man standing before them. He was in his early thirties by the look of him. His features were classically handsome with a welcoming smile to match it, but for two supernatural beings there was a little something more that disturbed the image; a neutral space of nothing where body ought to be.

“Adam?” Crowley asked, putting on an air of confidence the way a child might put on their dad’s suit. 

He gave a small nod. “That’s me. I will say I am surprised to see you two around here again. Problem?”

“Might be,” Crowley admitted. “Mind if we stay till it cools off?”

Adam shrugged. “If you’d like, it’s not up to me really.”

“Would you like to come in,” Aziraphale offered. “I think we could all do with a good talk.”

Adam stood silently for a moment, looking down the street and checking his watch before accepting the offer. Soon enough the angel, demon and Anti-Christ were gathered around the kitchen table sharing a cup of tea. Where the tea had come from in the supposedly empty cottage was anyone’s guess.

“So what kind of trouble is it?” Adam asked, deciding to get right to the point.

“We’re not sure,” Aziraphale said. “Heaven and Hell have left us alone for the most part, but something is changing. I can’t say what, but it’s changing.”

“Felt anything on your end,” Crowley asked.

Adam shook his head. “Same as always really. No voices in my head or Tibetan monks, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Crowley nodded, but the relief he had expected at the news didn’t come. Something had changed in Tadfield, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Where’s the dog?” he found himself asking.

Adam looked at him in confusion. “Passed away, almost five years now.”

Aziraphale blinked. “Passed away?”

“He was an old dog,” Adam said, a little sadly, but not overwhelmingly so. “Went in his sleep.”

Aziraphale and Crowley stared at each other, each looking to the other for how to proceed.

“How?” Crowley choked out.

Adam blinked. “He got old. Last I checked, things that get old die sometimes.”

“But that’s not possible,” Aziraphale interjected. “Your dog was a hellhoud. Hellhounds don’t pass away in their sleep.”

“But Dog wasn’t really a hellhound, he as a dog.”

Crowley stayed silent during the exchange, taking the time to really, truly look at Adam.

“You’re aging,” he said, quietly.

“Well, I would hope so. Otherwise I went through puberty for nothing.”

“No, you’re aging, aging,” Crowley insisted. “You’re not pretending to age, you’re actually getting older.” 

“Yes.”

“Why though?”

“I’m human,” Adam said simply. “Humans get older, don’t they?”

Again, there was silence as the angel and demon finally got it.

“You’re dying,” Aziraphale concluded.

“I’m only thirty-two, I’ve still got a while yet,” Adam said dryly.

“But you will die, eventually,” added Crowley.

“Everyone does.”

“Not us,” Crowley said. “Not things like us.”

“Every person dies,” Adam amended. “And I am a person.”

“But don’t you understand, that’s what Heaven and Hell are waiting for,” said Aziraphale. “Once you’re gone, humanity will be left on its own and they can start the Apocalypse all over again with nothing to stand in their way.”

“Except people,” Adam said. “That’s the problem with you lot, you always seem to forget about people.”

“Adam, listen to us,” Crowley emphasized. “If you stay alive both sides will be too afraid to leave their front door.”

“For how long?”

Crowley blinked. “What?”

“How long until they’re not afraid of me anymore,” Adam clarified. “How many friends will I have to watch die and fade away until either side decides it’s worth the risk? Or worse, how long will it take for me to forget how to be human to the point it no longer matters I’m still around?”

“You won’t forget how to be human,” Aziraphale insisted. 

“But I will,” Adam said, calmly. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and it seems to me that a big part of being human is knowing it’s not going to last forever. If things go on forever, it’s rather like pretending. Nothing you do is really real. If I go on forever, then the people in my life, things I do aren’t going to feel really real. They’ll be passing fancies until the next century rolls around. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to live forever if that’s how I’m going to see people.”

Adam took a last sip of his tea, before rising from his seat.

“If either side tries anything right now, I’ll gladly help you, but I’m going to stick to the time I’ve got. Nothing more or less than that.”

“Adam,” Crowley tried to say, before the young man held up his hand in silence.

“I decided a long time ago neither side was going to tell me who I was or what I was meant to do,” he said. “I’m human and that means all the free will I can stand. You should know, you gave it to us.”

Crowley opened his mouth to say something only to close it again.

Adam gave a half smile before turning to Aziraphale. “Thanks for the tea. I hope you two have a nice stay.”

And with that, he left leaving the angel and demon to wonder; what were they going to do next.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you like this, check out my tumblr @ https://ineffable-dads.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos if you're so inclined.


End file.
